The case for Alabama's Kalen DeBoer facing more (or less) pressure than Auburn's Hugh Freeze

Pressure’s on the football coaches in the state of Alabama, but for different reasons.

Kalen DeBoer knows the Alabama standard creates a playoff-or-bust mentality. That means his debut season ranks as a bust and ratchets up the pressure on his second season.

At Auburn, the Tigers last tasted a winning season when Gus Malzahn coached the team. Hugh Freeze’s buyout offers insufficient protection. He’ll be in win-or-be-fired mode in his third season on the Plains.

On today’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate which of the two coaches in the Iron Bowl rivalry faces more pressure, with the hosts offering diverging opinions. Toppmeyer has questions about each team’s quarterback situation, while Adams believes in Auburn transfer Jackson Arnold, but he’s not sold on Alabama’s trigger man.

Earlier in the episode, the hosts examine the SEC’s basketball uprising, highlighted by Auburn, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. Toppmeyer lists two of those four among his favorites to win the national championship.